Audiologist gives the gift of hearing

Audiologist David Illich holds a large model of the human ear in his Escondido office. He has spent the past 12 years helping low-income people with hearing loss get free hearing aids.

Audiologist David Illich holds a large model of the human ear in his Escondido office. He has spent the past 12 years helping low-income people with hearing loss get free hearing aids. (Charlie Neuman / San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Pre)

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, where David Illich grew up and much of his family still lives. In the weeks and months after the catastrophic storm, the Escondido audiologist was overwhelmed by the generosity shown to his relatives and other storm victims by his patients, his friends and even strangers.

That’s when he came up with a way to thank some of this community’s neediest residents by giving them the gift of sound. With sponsorship from Palomar Health, he launched Hear for the Holidays, an annual essay contest that has since awarded state-of-the-art hearing aids to a dozen recipients, as well as less-expensive devices for more than 60 other people.

And this week, Illich and his wife, Kathleen, are in southern Mexico, helping to fit more than 1,500 poor children and adults with free hearing aids from the national organization So the World May Hear.

Illich said being in the room when people begin to hear again, sometimes after many years of near-silence, is an experience that “never gets old.”

“There’s nothing more beautiful in life than giving people back the ability to communicate,” he said. “When people lose their hearing they have no concept of what they lost. It’s amazing when we can give back that love.”

Illich, a past president of the California Audiology Association, said more than 325 million people worldwide have significant hearing loss and no access to help. In the U.S., the problem could soon reach crisis proportions as every day roughly 10,000 Americans turn 65.

And it’s not just older adults facing problems. One of the nation’s fastest-growing age groups with hearing damage is age 19 and under, because of teens’ heavy use of deep-insert “ear bud” headphones.

Although hearing aids can offer tremendous help to most users, they’re not covered by many insurance plans and their cost (up to $7,000 a pair) is out of reach for many.

“Lots of these people are single moms who are working two or three jobs and who have set their own needs aside to care for others,” Illich said. “These are people who fall between the cracks. They make too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford hearing aids.”

Among those helped by Illich’s Hear for the Holidays program is 2007 winner Devra Willett of Poway, 62, who was secretly entered in the contest by her sister and a coworker.

The longtime bartender and restaurant waitress was in danger of losing both jobs because she couldn’t hear customers’ orders or when they called after her with a request. Because her hearing loss had been gradual, Willett said she didn’t realize how it had affected her confidence, her relationship with her children and her comfort in public and group conversations.

“The first day I put on my hearing aids, I thought the birds would fly right through the window and the plane overhead would crash. Oh my gosh I didn’t realize how long I’d gone without these sounds,” she said. “People don’t realize how lonely you can become when you can’t hear. I think if I had to choose between losing my sight or my hearing, it would be a toss-up, because when you can’t hear you are so alone.”

Illich, 60, grew up in Biloxi, Miss., and attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where he ended up taking classes in speech and hearing sciences on a whim. While looking for a science elective, one of his male classmates encouraged Illich to check out that department because it had the prettiest female students.

Although Illich didn’t find his soulmate there, he did fall in love with the science of audiology and went on to earn his masters and doctorate in the field. He started his practice, Professional Hearing Associates, in Escondido in 1984 and is now chief of audiology for Palomar Health and Pomerado Hospital, as well as a contractor at Tri-City Medical Center.

Many of his patients are adults in their 40s to 60s, though he sometimes sees young people as well as the very old. He said people routinely put off getting their hearing checked and they will often make excuses for why they no longer talk on the phone, go to church or engage in family discussions.

Some have purchased inexpensive hearing aids and were so unhappy with the results they simply assume there’s no hope. But the right fit and equipment can work miracles, he said.

“I’ve sat here in my chair and cried when I see it happen,” he said. “I had a couple in here in their 90s who were still very much in love but no longer talked because they couldn’t hear each other. When they got their hearing aids, they were sitting here chatting up a storm like schoolkids again.”

Each year, Illich receives about 15 to 25 essay applications for the Hear for the Holidays contest. A committee made up of himself and other audiologists, senior services workers, patients and emergency workers make the final selection for the prize, a set of Starkey Muse i2400 hearing aids. A handful of runners-up each year also received lower-priced and refurbished sets.

This year’s winner is Lorna Nanasca of Poway. She was secretly entered in the contest by her 32-year-old son, Rommel, who has spinal muscular atrophy and she is his full-time caregiver. Because she couldn’t hear him when he called, Rommel would often have to call her cellphone or use a portable doorbell device to summon her from the next room. Lorna received her new hearing aids three weeks ago and said she can’t believe the change.

“Oh my god it changed a lot! I can hear everything, even the tick-tock of the clock on the wall. It’s amazing and a luxury I could never have afforded myself,” she said.

Another charitable effort that Illich supports is So the World May Hear, a charity started by Starkey founder Bill Austin in 1999. Starkey collects used and broken hearing aids from all over the country and refurbishes them for reuse in third-world countries. Over the past 17 years, it has sent teams of audiologists into the field to serve 775,000 people in more than 100 countries.

Because Illich and his wife — a second grade teacher at Reidy Creek Elementary — were raising two children, they weren’t able to go on these mission trips in the past, but they supported them with donations. Also, Illich collected used hearing aids for the cause, including 87 devices last May at Palomar Health. But with their kids now grown, the Illiches have embarked on their first mission trip this week in Mexico, with visits planned in Chiapas and the Yucatan.

They return on Friday and Illich said they plan to do many more such trips in the future, including a visit to Haiti next October where they’ll fit hearing aids on children at two orphanages.

Willett, the 2014 winner, said she’s not surprised that her audiologist is giving so much of his time and expertise to the charitable organizations.

“He is the sweetest man and he gives it from his heart,” she said. “It’s his passion to help people.”